The Wedding Planner: Kenshin Style
by IrrevocableVision
Summary: Those who can't wed, plan! Kaoru is an ambitious and single wedding planner who can't be a partner of the Oniwabanshu company until she completes a multimillion dollar wedding. But what do you when you fall in love with the groom?
1. Prologue

The Wedding Planner: Kenshin Style  
  
Prologue  
  
~What makes loneliness an anguish is not that I have no one to share my burden, but this: I have only my own burden to bear- Dag Hammarskjold  
  
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She panicked inside while keeping her calm facade, Gucci heels clicking in the empty hallway as she searched for the bride's father. *He has to be here somewhere. I can't believe he chickened out right before his own daughter's wedding! Where is he where is he? * She could hear sniffles around the corner and she turned to see the bride's father sitting on top of the grand staircase, weeping away with a large bottle of sake in his hands. His jacket was all wrinkled, his tie undone, and there were bags around his eyes. A sigh of relief and then she was off, clicking away towards the father with a bottle of Evian spray already in her hand.  
  
"Mr. Todo, the wedding can't start without you." She said gently but nearly recoiled back upon smelling the amount of alcohol in his breath. Just how long had he been sitting there, drinking that huge bottle of sake? His response was to weep louder and moved his hand to take another gulp of the sake but she grabbed and set it on the step below, alarmed to find the bottle nearly empty. Normally, for situations like this she was only suppose to spray the Evian three times but due to the amount of alcohol...looks like she would have to use the whole bottle.  
  
"Mr. Todo, do you love your daughter?" She asked soothingly while spraying nonstop at his face. He wrinkled his nose for a moment but made no protest. Instead, his aged face lifted into a broad smile.  
  
"My little Mikame, my only daughter and the apple of my eye! Why, I remember when I could hold her up with one hand but nowadays I can't even do it with two. Hehehe, there was that time in the school play, she got the main part and her mother and I almost cried in happiness. Such a talented and beautiful girl." He happily reminisced as she sprayed one last time.  
  
"Do you want your daughter to be happy?" She cut in before he could go into Mikame's whole childhood.  
  
"Of course!" He puffed his chest out. "It's all I ever wanted for my daughter!" She took his hand and gently pulled him up to his feet. He wobbled for a moment but regained his footing and she led him down the stairs and towards the wedding.  
  
"Your daughter loves Ibuki very much and will live a happy life with him. But her happiness won't be complete if her father isn't there to see her married. Would you make your daughter unhappy?" She asked him as they walked nearer and nearer to the sanctuary.  
  
"No... but, it means I'll lose her to another man. And we'll grow apart till she never visits me anymore. I know how you young people are these days, you never visit your folks anymore."  
  
Mikame stood waiting in her white gown, looking around nervously for her father. Kaoru stopped and fixed Mr. Todo's tie and his rumpled black jacket.  
  
"Trust that your daughter loves you and you won't be disappointed. Remember, you are a special person in her life and she couldn't get married without your approval."  
  
Mr. Todo gave one last sniff then straightened his back, his hazy eyes clearing at once. He gave a smile to Kaoru and marched up to his daughter. Mikame's worried face broke into a grin as she saw her father proudly walking towards her. He lifted his arm for her to put her hand and the doors slowly opened to reveal the rose covered aisle.  
  
"Misao! Start the music!" Kaoru hurriedly whispered into her tiny microphone as she walked upstairs to the second story of the sanctuary. The sounds of an orchestra playing the wedding march filled the chapel as Kaoru reached the second story. Misao was waiting by the balcony, looking below with a tissue in her hand. The girl's long dark hair was tied in its usual braid and she had dressed herself in a cheery yellow suit. The assistant dabbed a tissue at her eyes and sniffed at the fairytale scene.  
  
"After four years of this, one would THINK that you would get over the blubbery stage." Kaoru quietly commented to her assistant as her eyes scanned the wedding, making sure everything was perfect. Misao gave an indignant sniffle at Kaoru and turned her attention back to the wedding.  
  
Two women from below looked up at the wedding planner, her eyes taking in the glory below. She stood, imposing through her small stature, with dark blue hair tied back into a high ponytail.  
  
"Hey, there's the wedding planner." One of them nudged her friend, sighing in jealousy at the planner.  
  
"She must lead such a romantic life." The friend whispered as they both turned to watch the ceremony. Romance? If they only knew...  
  
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She popped open the container of her meal, excellent sushi from her favorite restaurant. She had not tried her own cooking for ten years but even now she could still taste the bitterness of her crunchy miso, a clear warning that takeout would be her main meal for the years to come. She sat it down on her low table and flipped the TV on as she started to eat her dinner. This was her life: wake up, practice in her dojo, shower, dress up in perfectly matched clothes, go to work, practice in her dojo, buy food, eat, watch TV, then sleep. Repeat 365 times then multiply by five and you have her life.  
  
Solitude had been her companion ever since her father had died when she was 7 years old, her mother already gone, leaving her parentless. She was brought up in a foster home and it was there she began to dream. Daydream, night dream, it didn't matter, she just dreamed of love. The perfect love that would heal her heart and make her feel whole, not broken and confused.  
  
Love would rescue her when she was in trouble, make her laugh when she was sad, embrace her when she was down, cook when she couldn't, and love her completely despite who she was. She dreamed so much that she began to plan out her wedding in the dojo of her foster parents. Everyday would start with a new idea for her wedding, changing daily till there were hundreds of visions running through her mind when she reached junior high. At that age, her dream cracked just a little bit.  
  
By high school, it was harboring spider web cracks everywhere. By college, it shattered. Still, she kept every idea with her, treasuring it as a reminder of her childish wishes. At age 23, she was hired by a failing company called the Oniwabanshu who was desperate for a new look. In one year, she turned a company that made only a few thousand to rolling in millions.  
  
Every one of her ideas was a hit and client after client begged for her to plan their wedding. In the first two years of planning she would close her eyes, letting the soft music whisper its way into her ears. She would imagine feeling the expensive silk on her skin as she walked down the aisle. She would imagine being handed over to a warm hand that would give a squeeze of encouragement. And then her daydream would stop as the music ceased to sound its notes.  
  
By the third year, her dream's shattered pieces wore away into dust until that, too, was blown away by the winds of time. Fifth year, Oniwabanshu was the top rank wedding planner company, offering dozens of men and women who could plan phenomenal weddings. By then, she was ready for a change; she was ready for a partnership with the infamous Shinomori Aoshi. She looked up from her meal to be caught by a loud news announcement.  
  
"-PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THAT THE FAMOUS MODEL YUKISHIRO TOMOE WILL BE GETTING MARRIED TO HIMURA-"  
  
She turned the TV off with her remote control. Yukishiro Tomoe, an international model who made millions. Her parents owned a shipping company that made billions and word in the bridal world was that they doted on their only daughter. If she knew famous people well enough, they would go all out on the wedding. Making it the best, the most talked about for years and years. No expenses would be spared and they would want the best wedding planner there was...her. She gave a grin and began to clean up her dishes. Tomorrow, tomorrow she would face down Aoshi once more to ask for a partnership. He couldn't turn her away with a deal like Tomoe and there was no doubt that the Yukishiro's would call for her assistance.  
  
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*The story will more or less be like The Wedding Planner with Jennifer Lopez but I'll make adjustments whenever I feel like it, so the story won't be exactly like the movie (at least I hope not). And does anybody know some good beta readers who would be willing to beta my fics? I dislike how it's looking right now but my computer can't do anything else, so if you do know or you are one, please email!!!! Now *rubbing hands together* on to the next chapter where Kenshin saves her life. Oh, don't forget to REVIEW!!!!!!! Lots of reviews mean faster chapters!!!! 


	2. Chapter 1

Author's notes: I've gotten some comments on the formatting of my chapters. Yes yes, I know it sucks but it's all my stupid computer can do, unless I get a beta reader, which I am still looking for one right now. So if anybody wants to beta my fics, please do!  
  
The Wedding Planner: Kenshin Style  
  
Chapter 1  
  
~With some people, solitariness is an escape not from others but from themselves. For they see in the eyes of others only a reflection of themselves- Eric Hoffer  
  
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She slammed the newspaper on his executive desk and sat down in the hard backed chair before him, taking a sip of her morning green tea. He took the newspaper and read the front page.  
  
"Yukishiro Tomoe, a model with billionaire parents who would do anything for their daughter, especially for her upcoming wedding." Kaoru explained, watching her boss read the newspaper over the rims of her plastic mug. He didn't say anything as he threw the newspaper on top of a pile of papers pushed to the side of his long desk. He swiveled his leather chair, facing it towards the wide glass window that offered a perfect view of Tokyo. A morning fog had settled in, covering the skyscrapers all around, but there was a promise of clear skies as little beams of sunlight shone through. He quietly looked at the window's reflection of his spacious office, already anticipating Kaoru's argument.  
  
"If I nab the Yukishiro account, you have to make me a partner. And you can't turn me down because I bring in more than all the other planners. Times 6!" Kaoru added, leaning forward in her seat. "I was the one who brought the company to where it is today and you know I always attracted the rich corporatist and businesses."  
  
"I started this company on my own and so it will be till the end." He finally said after his usual long pause of thought. Aoshi held his breath as he waited for her rebuttal, there was no way this woman was going to back down. He had been dreading the question every since she came into work with a gleam in her eyes last week. The fire in Kaoru didn't die down but ignited even hotter in annoyance. She smoothly sat back in her chair and crossed her legs, swirling the tea in her mug at a light rhythmic motion.  
  
"Fine, then I guess I'll have to start my own company. I'll have to take Tae's catering service, Fumiko's Flowers, and all those companies that work with ME in making a wedding. Oh, I almost forgot, I'll have to take my assistant, MISAO, as well, since she is, after all, MY assistant. " At the sound of Misao's name Aoshi's chair gave a little creak. Kaoru fought to keep her smile down, she was right on target.  
  
She continued on as Aoshi steadily refused to turn his chair and look at her. "Hm, what kind of lettering should I make? Maybe I'll rent a nice space in Jasmine Lane, where there are lots of wedding shops. People shopping for their wedding will see my company, and, boom, I got flourishing business!" Kaoru ranted, silently counting in her head. 5...4...3...2...1.... He turned his chair.  
  
"You wouldn't." He said in disbelief, though Kaoru thought she could detect a hint of worry. Black bangs slightly covered cold blue eyes that were carefully masked.  
  
"I would and you know it. But by agreeing to a partnership, you'll save me the work of finding my own place. And since I'm such a bleeding heart, I'll throw in a date with Misao as well." Kaoru gave her sweetest smile. Aoshi's eyes nearly bulged at the sound of her assistant's name.  
  
"Why are you throwing her in? Are you implying that I'm in love with her?" He argued. Kaoru shrugged her cashmere-clad shoulders.  
  
"Don't ask me, you're the one who said love."  
  
He gave the first deep sigh that Kaoru, and probably anybody else, had never heard. He leaned back in his chair and covered his eyes with a hand.  
  
"Why do you have to make things so difficult?" He asked her.  
  
"You're the one making it difficult, all it takes is one little yes, a few contracts, some changing of the lettering on the front door, an expansion of my office-"  
  
"Alright, alright." Aoshi cut through in clenched teeth. "But, under one condition."  
  
Kaoru leaned forward again with eager eyes.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"You get the Yukishiro account and make the wedding perfect, meaning nothing goes wrong, all the rules and guidelines are followed, and there is not a single complaint from the family itself on how it goes." He said slowly and clearly, making sure Kaoru heard every single word.  
  
"Rules? Guidelines? I thought the only rule was to bring in the money." She got up and started walking around, relieving the tension in her legs. She poked at a dying flower on his bookshelf. "I didn't know you liked flowers."  
  
"I don't, Misao bought it for me." He grumbled in a low voice. "I gave you a handbook that has everything you need to know about the company and the rules, didn't you read it?"  
  
"Oh, those booklets you gave everybody last year? No, of course not, it's on the bottom of my desk drawer."  
  
"Go. Read it. Memorize it. Use it."  
  
Dismissal, and Kaoru sauntered out of his office in victory. Misao was waiting right by the door, pretending to look like she had been there on accident. She pounced on Kaoru the second she walked out.  
  
"Well? Well?! Did he say yes?" She asked as they walked to Kaoru's office down the hall.  
  
"On a deal, but I'm not worrying about it. I have it Misao! I'm going to be a partner soon!"  
  
Misao squealed in delight as the two friends began to jump up and down in the privacy of her office. The phone rang and Misao picked it up while Kaoru sat in her chair to begin work. She handed the phone to Kaoru.  
  
"The Yukishiro's!" Misao whispered loudly as Kaoru quickly took the phone from her.  
  
"Hello, Kamiya Kaoru speaking."  
  
"Mrs. Kamiya, "said a lilting voice that emanated a gentle elegance, it caught Kaoru's attention immediately. "This is Yukishiro Tomoe and I was calling to wonder if my parents and I could view one of your weddings to see your work? If it is too much trouble then I completely understand."  
  
"No, it's no trouble at all. It's taking place this evening so you caught me right on time. The wedding will be at Koishikawa Botanical Gardens, right before sunset." Kaoru answered smoothly, unbelievably excited at how things were coming together.  
  
"Thank you so much, and my parents and I will see you there. Ja ne." Tomoe said and the phone went dead. Kaoru gave thumbs up to Misao.  
  
"She'll be coming to see the Togano wedding at the botanical gardens tonight and she'll be blown away! I'm going to head over there right now to oversee the last finishing touch ups, you'll be coming later on?" She asked Misao.  
  
"Yeah, do have any papers or anything you need me to give to Aoshi?" She said hopefully with her palms pressed together. Kaoru shuffled through the neat stack of papers on her desk and took one out, handing it to Misao.  
  
"Here, it's just a note that the last payments for the Togano wedding came today."  
  
Misao snatched the paper and bounced to Aoshi's office with a glowing aura of contentment.  
  
Kaoru shook her head at Misao's antics, how could the girl love that iceman? After taking some slips of messages from her secretary up front, she pushed the glass doors leading outside. Her car was parked on the other side of the street and she carefully looked both sides of the road before walking across. It was usually pretty empty during the afternoons due to lunch and today was no exception. She suddenly tripped and nearly twisted her ankle out of its socket. Grimacing in pain she looked down to see her slipper's heel stuck in the hole of a metal sewer trap.  
  
It would probably be a good idea to get out of the street since lunch hour was almost over...but her shoe! She paid several hundred dollars for it and she had been taught to appreciate a good dollar. She knelt down and tried to pry the heel out but it was wedged tight. There was a rumbling sound growing louder and she tilted her head up to see a car accelerating faster before her, the driver not looking at the front of his car.  
  
*Crap crap crap * Kaoru pulled at her shoes more desperately but it still refused to come out. She looked up again to see the metal fender looming closer and closer and the reflecting lights captured her eyes. Something hard hit her and she went soaring over the asphalt only to hit the cement hard with the crack of her head. She clenched her eyes tight at the thudding pain as she yelped at the impact of hitting the flat ground and having something soft and warm land on her. The throbbing of her head made her open her eyes to stare into stunning lavender orbs. She could only say one thing.  
  
"Itai..." She muttered at the beautiful eyes. It twinkled with worry and she was swirling in their unbelievable depths. They were pulling her in and she was making no effort to stop them.  
  
"Can you move your legs and arms?" A soft voice uttered almost far away.  
  
"Mmm." Kaoru wiggled her toes and fingers wearily.  
  
"How's your head? Does it ache?" The voice asked, seeming even farther away now.  
  
"Mmm." She answered as she gave another grimace at her head.  
  
"Are you breathing alright?" The voice asked again.  
  
"I...wouldn't know...you're on top...of me." She said, having a hard time forming her words.  
  
He shifted his weight and the warmth that had enveloped her was gone.  
  
"I'm sorry." The voice was embarrassed but the eyes showed nothing but that enchanting worry. *Purple...such a pretty color...who has purple eyes these days? *  
  
"Are you disoriented? Feeling dizzy? Out of place?" The voice kept asking.  
  
"My shoe...where's my shoe?" She asked faintly, hoping her shoes fared better than her.  
  
"You're holding it." The voice held some emotion now, almost at the brink of laughing. Kaoru squeezed her right hand and felt a smooth object in it, her shoe. "Are you feeling disoriented at all?" The voice repeated.  
  
"You saved...my shoe." She added before feeling a strange drowsiness come over her.  
  
"You're disoriented." The voice was worried again but everything slipped away into a comfortable darkness and she felt safe for the first time in years.  
  
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Something cold pressed into her ears while she felt a cloth being wrapped around her upper arm. She gave a moan and pushed the cold object in her ears away while shaking her arm.  
  
There was a giggle in front of her face and she opened her eye to look into the eyes of a young girl. She gave a squeak and scampered to the foot of the bed, wait, bed? Kaoru opened both eyes to see smiling animals on the walls and grinning Pokemon on her bed sheets. There were two girls in the room, the smaller one had two short pigtails while the taller one had two braids in the front of her face with the rest of her brown hair was down. They looked apprehensively at Kaoru from behind the metal bars. Kaoru gave a gentle smile at them.  
  
"Hi."  
  
"Hello." They both chimed and the ice was broken as the girls smiled at her.  
  
"Where am I?" Kaoru asked as she looked around the room again. There were more stuffed animals and toys than she could count.  
  
"The hospital." A voice rang out softly, Kaoru turned her gave to see a short redheaded man standing at the doorway in a white coat. He had the same soft voice and the same lavender eyes she remembered. The two girls ran over to him, each grabbing a hold of his leg.  
  
"Ken-ni!" The girls sang out happily as he struggled to walk towards Kaoru with the girls on his legs. He had a clipboard tucked under his arm and he pulled it out, flipping a few papers over.  
  
"I took some x-rays and cat scans and you appear to be fine, nothing but a minor headache which can be quickly fixed with some Tylenol, Kaoru-dono." He tucked the clipboard back under his arm and reached down to pulled the girls from his legs. They giggled and ran out of the room. "Please excuse them, they just love meeting the new patients."  
  
"Ano-how do you know my name?' She asked as she tried to sit up.  
  
"You know, I've never met anybody who alphabetized their credit cards." He commented with a chortle as he helped her. "Or someone who would risk their life for a shoe." His sure fingers gripped her shoulders as she pushed up with her hands. She shrugged off his hands.  
  
"It was a good shoe." She said gruffly on the defense of her precious accessory. He only gave another chortle as he sat back in a chair near the bed.  
  
"So, Kamiya Kaoru, how are you feeling?" He asked.  
  
"Wouldn't you know? You're the doctor." She looked at him incredulously. He only answered with a serene smile.  
  
"I usually treat children, and since you are obviously not one." she looked down at her hospital uniform, suddenly very aware that she had absolutely nothing on.  
  
"You didn't...change me, did you?" She asked him warily, her hands ready to grab something to throw at him. She was rewarded with a blush and eased down her hands.  
  
"Of course not, I would never even consider the thought-," He stammered.  
  
"It's alright. Thank you, for helping me that is. And for saving my shoe." She added with a joking grin that lit up her face. He was smiling back when there was a crashing thud and loud apologies. Misao flew into the doorway with her hair everywhere and with wide blue eyes.  
  
"Kaoru-chan!" She leaped towards the bed but was caught by the doctor before she could jump on the already wincing Kaoru. Misao gave a confused look at the man, how had he gotten there so fast? He placed her back on the ground.  
  
"I'm sorry, but she has a few bruised ribs and I didn't want you to make it any worse." He explained. Misao ignored him but latched onto Kaoru's hand with teary eyes.  
  
"Kaoru-chan! I heard about your near death experience and the man who had nearly cracked your head open!"  
  
Kaoru could feel the man cringe at Misao's words.  
  
"Ah, Misao, he didn't almost crack my head open, he saved me...and my shoe." She defended the man. Misao didn't listen to her and whirled around, wagging her finger at his face.  
  
"Baka Kenshin! You need to treat my friends like glass! Not blocks of stone!" She berated him and he bowed his head slightly. "Sure, you saved her from being squashed but you almost split open her head too!" She went on as his head bowed a little lower in shame.  
  
"Eh...Misao?" Kaoru called out and her assistant turned her head. "You know him?" She pointed at the doctor.  
  
"Sure, he's Yukishiro's fiancé." Misao said nonchalantly. "And my baka friend from college."  
  
She glared at the doctor again who only gave a light shrug at the two girls.  
  
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*Lol, so Kaoru meets Kenshin and Kenshin gets scolded by Misao. The next chapter, enter Tomoe and her parents. And please review!  
  
Faerie-chan: Thank you for the compliments! I'm looking for a beta reader right now because I hate my format too, do you know any good beta readers?  
  
Female Hitokiri Battousai: Thanks! ^^ I can't do email updates because I have a terrible memory and I'm usually short on time when it comes to writing (stupid school!) I'm glad you like the story so far  
  
M@ry: I was thinking the same thing too! I browsed around for a bit to see if anybody had done a story like this, just to make sure I wasn't copying off of anybody and nobody had! I'm glad I came up with this; it's fun just writing the chapters out!  
  
Assassin-girl: Wow, I'm your first Kenshin fic? I'm so proud that I'm your first story! If you want some really good Kenshin stories, look under my favorite stories and favorite authors. Some of the best writers and stories I have read are under there and I think each of them are awesome and original, so take a look! 


	3. Chapter 2

Author Notes: Nothing much, except that I hope you enjoy this chapter. I had writer's block for a long time and then I just had this sudden spark of inspiration, not to mention some new insights on where I want to take this story. So enjoy and review!  
  
The Wedding Planner: Kenshin Style  
  
Chapter 2  
  
~ There is no greater sorrow than to recall in misery the time when we were happy- Dante  
  
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The atmosphere had become somewhat more friendlier after that, with Misao chatting and berating Kenshin away. But at the same time, Kaoru could feel a polite barrier rising before the redhead. Either way, she was ready to get out of the hospital and back to overseeing the wedding which would be, she glanced at the cat clock hanging on the wall, in three hours??!!  
  
"So can I leave now?" Kaoru asked out loud while Misao was wagging a finger at the doctor. They both turned to look at her, one in worry and the other in stern determination.  
  
"Nuh uh Kaoru-chan, you need rest after your near death experience." Misao said darkly.  
  
"I'm sorry Kaoru-dono, but I want to keep an eye on you for a while more just to be sure you'll be alright." Kenshin said at the same time.  
  
"Forget it, I'm perfectly fine, I don't feel dizzy, I have no headaches, and I have a wedding to oversee!"  
  
The two looked at each other and then nodded their heads in mutual agreement after a long session of staring.  
  
"A compromise then. You go, but under Misao's and my supervision." Kenshin said and Kaoru happily kicked the anime character blanket off.  
  
"Done. Where're my clothes?" Misao herded the doctor out of the room while Kaoru reached over for the neatly folded pile of clothes on the table near her. "Ick, I wish I had time to change, I'm meeting the Yukishiro's today."  
  
"Do you want someone to bring over a dress?" Misao asked as she took the hospital gown Kaoru passed to her.  
  
"If it's possible, just something simple. I want to look elegant, not flashy." Kaoru said as she emerged from the bathroom in her dirt smeared suit. The rough cement had managed to created a few tears here and there.  
  
"Alright, I'll send someone to get it. You sure you're feeling good enough to do this?" Misao asked worriedly.  
  
"Hey, this is me you're talking about. Have I ever missed one of my weddings?" Kaoru joked as the two stepped outside. Kenshin had already changed out of his white doctor's uniform for a long black coat. He had been leaning against the adjacent wall with a look of deep thoughtfulness but immediately straightened when the two came out.  
  
"Are you sure you must go through with this?" He asked and Kaoru frowned.  
  
"Unless I'm fainting or throwing up, nothing gets between me and a wedding." She said with a toss of her proud head. Her forehead panged with a mild headache but she brushed it away as minor side effects. "Besides, this wedding will open new doors for me."  
  
"New doors?" He asked curiously as Misao led them to her parked car in the garage.  
  
"You're looking at the potential partner of the Oniwabanshu." She said proudly. "5 years of breaking my back and I'm finally getting my just desserts."  
  
"You must be young, are you 25?" He guessed as Misao weaved in and out of traffic.  
  
"27." Kaoru admitted. "But my relatives like to ask me when I'll graduate from high school." She gave a wince at her last family reunion; her aunt kept telling her she would buy a beautiful dress for her once she entered a university. A canopy of trees rose above a quiet street that held stately cars and dozens of vans from various catering companies. There was still much bustling as the clock ticked down every crucial minute till the wedding and a few of the attendants had panicked looks on their faces. Once Kaoru stepped out they fled to her, spewing forth a dozen questions at once. With a nod at few she began to walk through the ivy metal gates and towards the wedding site. Kenshin stared after the short woman who walked with all the confidence in the world.  
  
"Amazing, isn't?" Misao commented as she stood next to him. "I never get tired of watching her taking charge of a wedding, she really is brilliant. "Misao gave a sigh. "I know I'm never going to gain a talent like that."  
  
"Does she love it?" He asked as the two slowly followed right behind Kaoru.  
  
Misao tapped her chin with a manicured finger while eyeing a wreath of drooping yellow roses. "I've never asked her but then again, I've never heard her complain. Hey, you! This wreath looks like it's over two months old, go and get a new one!" Misao yelled at a young man. He had a permanent smile etched on his face even though Misao was reprimanding him. With a quiet bow, he took away the wilting wreath to the flower tent.  
  
The two finally caught up with Kaoru talking to a host of cooks with a calm expression on her face. She had already changed out of her ruined suit for a simple but elegant black dress.  
  
"No no, the chocolate crème was supposed to go with the frosted strawberries, not the cheesecake. If it's irreversible, then use the light cream with the strawberries and serve the dessert wine with the cheesecake instead to cover up the heavy flavor." The staff nodded and hurried away to their positions. Kaoru rubbed the sides of her head with her fingers but swiftly dropped them when she saw Misao and Kenshin coming.  
  
"Misao, remind me to type notes to the caterers next time, I keep forgetting. And the wine glasses were late, again! I think we might have to switch over to a new company if they're going to keep doing this to us." Kaoru said and Misao whipped out a small notebook and scrawled down the notes. "I need you to see if all the flowers and the rose petals are ready, and Aoshi told me he sent a potential client to see the wedding, can you find him? All Aoshi told me was that he was, en quote, 'too damned happy'."  
  
Kenshin felt Misao gave a small wince and then nod her head. Kaoru gave a smile but it wiped off her face when she began to sway. Kenshin grabbed her arms to keep her steady and had her leaning against his chest while he felt around her head for any kind of swelling.  
  
"Himura." Said a beautifully delicate voice. All three heads turned to see a stunning woman standing before them with an older couple right behind her.  
  
"Tomoe.." Kenshin said tenderly and then blushed when he looked at his rather intimate hold on Kaoru. The wedding planner gathered all her energy to stand straight before her opportunity of a lifetime. Shrugging off the doctor's hands, Kaoru primly straightened her clothes.  
  
"Thank you, Himura-san, I thought I was going to fall for a second there." Kaoru strode over to the Yukishiro's and held out a hand. "I'm Kamiya Kaoru, the wedding planner. It's a pleasure to meet you Miss Yukishiro."  
  
The model's hand was as soft as her voice and the handshake was perfect, brief enough to be called a handshake but long enough to warmly say a proper greeting.  
  
"Kamiya-san, I've heard much about you from many friends. They say you are the best at what you do, and I cannot look for anybody less for my own wedding." Tomoe threw a look at her fiancé and gave a smile. Shaking himself out of a strange daze, Kenshin walked next to her side and took her hand into his own. An intimate look passed between them and Kaoru almost sighed, suddenly wondering what true love was.  
  
"Please, if you could follow my assistant, Misao, she will take you to your seats. Forgive me if they aren't the best but it's what I was able to get in such a short time." Kaoru raised her eyebrows at Misao who immediately stood at attention.  
  
"Ahem, if you could follow me please." Misao began to chat in a high- pitched nervous voice about the preparations of the wedding. The Yukishiro's wordlessly followed Misao but for some reason Kenshin stayed behind.  
  
"Erm, shouldn't you be going with your fiancé?" Kaoru asked as the two uneasily stood together.  
  
"I told you that I have to watch you for any signs of serious head injuries. I don't think you should be here Kaoru-dono, your head isn't showing any swelling but it looked like you almost fainted back there." He said apprehensively.  
  
"It's just a slight bout of dizziness, that's all." Kaoru said as she began to walk off towards the next place on her list. She stopped at regular intervals to inspect a flower here, sample a type of food there, and talk to various men and women. It was nearly ten minutes later when she realized that the doctor was still following her.  
  
"Honestly, Himura-san, I'm alright. If I faint, someone will just wake me up and everything will be fine. You should go back and watch the wedding, besides, it will determine whether I'll be your wedding planner or not." Kaoru said as sternly as she could but it didn't penetrate his composed demeanor.  
  
"Tomoe will choose your company, without a doubt. I'm here to do my job, Kaoru-dono. I intend to leave the wedding planning to my fiancé." He said.  
  
"Suit yourself." Kaoru muttered as she sneaked a look at her silver watch. Twenty minutes left, time to check up on the hysterically nervous bride. The bride's tent was in a far off corner of the garden and Kaoru made Kenshin wait outside while she stepped into the tent. A petite woman was staring into a long oval mirror with a look of intense concentration on her face.  
  
"Sakura-san, you look beautiful." Kaoru breathed out as her eyes skimmed over the dress and hair for any imperfections. Of course there weren't any. "But you look hesitant."  
  
"Oh, Kaoru-chan, I don't know if I'm doing the right thing. I'll be spending my entire life with him, that's over 5 decades! And what if he wakes up one day next to a wrinkly, ugly old hag and wants a divorce? And what if we get into a huge fight?" The woman said anxiously.  
  
"Sakura-san," Kaoru said soothingly as she straightened out a tiny wrinkle in the train of the satin white dress. "You trusted your fiancé enough to date him, you trusted him enough to get engaged to him, and you must pull through with that trust when you get married. All of this," she waved her hand around. "When it comes down to it, is just a leap of faith. Are you willing to do anything for the man you love?"  
  
"Of course." Sakura said with a hint of wonder in her voice.  
  
"Then there's the answer to all your questions." Kaoru said as she set the veil over the bride's face.  
  
"Is love enough?" Sakura suddenly asked.  
  
Kaoru hid her surprise and gave a long pause, thoughtfully picking apart the question. Was love ever enough? An unwanted memory flashed in her mind and she quickly forced it down before her mind could fully comprehend the image.  
  
"Yes..." She breathed out uncertainly. "It is."  
  
With a beam, the bride scooped up her bouquet of flowers, held her head high, and started to walk outside. Kaoru remained where she was, slightly taken back by Sakura's question. Nobody had ever asked that before...whether love was enough. And truth be told, she wasn't sure if love was enough. Divorces were soaring these days and yet people continued to get married at a frenzied rate as if it was almost vital for them to have found love. Did they all think that love would be enough to sustain them?  
  
"Kaoru-dono?" Kenshin called out. She shook herself of her unwedding like thoughts and stepped outside the tent.  
  
"Sorry Kenshin, let's go, the wedding is about to start." She said cheerfully as she strode down the colorful pebbled path. He followed right behind and a strange itching feeling began to take place in between her shoulder blades. He was staring at her, she could feel it. She whirled around and faced Kenshin with her hands on her hips. He abruptly stopped in his tracks.  
  
"Is there something wrong?" She said.  
  
"Do you mean everything you say?" He asked carefully.  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"Those things you said to the bride, did you mean it?"  
  
"Why do you want to know?" She asked as she turned and started to walk again.  
  
"Curiosity." He replied as he began to walk alongside her instead of behind.  
  
"Sometimes." She admitted honestly and sped up her walking.  
  
"So does that mean you don't believe in love?" He asked.  
  
"What's with the interrogation?" She asked grumpily as she stood in the far back of the immense white tent the wedding was taking place. Every seat had been filled and there was a low hum of over a hundred voices blending together. Kaoru fumbled in her purse and took out her walkie talkie. Placing the ear piece in place, Kaoru took a deep breath and switched the machine on. She glanced over to see the bridesmaids and groomsmen in lines with the bride and father in the back.  
  
"Misao, music." Kaoru whispered and the orchestra struck up the piece. With a concentrated look, Kaoru skimmed her eyes all over the tent to look for mistakes and found none. The flowers were all arranged, the orchestra was playing, and the scented candles had been lit...perfect.  
  
"You didn't answer my question." Kenshin whispered softly in her ear.  
  
Kaoru nearly jumped and took a few steps away from him, keeping her eyes focused on the wedding taking place. He left her alone after that but she kept fidgeting throughout the music, the vows, and the kiss. When it was finally over, she breathed a sigh of relief and began to head over to the dining area. Her shadow followed and Kaoru gritted her teeth, half tempted to just fall to the ground so that he would actually have a reason to be around.  
  
"Kamiya-san." Tomoe said.  
  
Kaoru placed a smile on her face as she turned to greet her potential client. "Did you enjoy the wedding?"  
  
"It was beautiful." The model said warmly. "But I hope you will be able to make my own wedding surpass all the others you have done in the past."  
  
Kaoru felt her smile stretch to a grin. She had gotten the account!  
  
"Have no worries Miss Yukishiro, your wedding will be the best I've ever created. Everything will be perfect." Kaoru said confidently and began to lead the Yukishiro's towards the dining tent. Kenshin had taken his place by Tomoe's side but Kaoru felt that itchy feeling on her back, he was still watching her.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
She neatly sat down in the leather chair before Aoshi's desk. He was in his customary spot, his chair turned coldly to the world while staring out of the long window that bedecked his office.  
  
"So, the Yukishiro's have agreed?" He asked quietly.  
  
"Yes, and they are giving unlimited funds for the wedding." She said almost excitedly.  
  
"You know what this means don't you?"  
  
"My soon to be partnership with the Oniwabanshu." Kaoru said proudly.  
  
"No." Aoshi replied. "It means that everything must go without a hitch. It must be the epitome of perfection. The Yukishiro's have a lot of friends in the upper world, and nearly all of them will be coming. It will be one of the biggest gatherings of prominent people of the year."  
  
"I wasn't born yesterday, Aoshi. And don't worry, this will be THE wedding of the year." Kaoru stood up. "If that's all, I'm off to start planning."  
  
The door slid shut with a tiny hiss and Aoshi turned his chair forward.  
  
"I should hope so, Kaoru."  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
*I've decided that I'll follow the barest plotlines from the movie but change a lot of the detail. Anyways, I hope those of you who are keeping up with this story aren't losing interest or faith in this story, I very much intend to finish it. Don't forget to review! I love long reviews! I adore them!  
  
Insert catchy name here: lol, well, I'm still trying to put down who I want for kaoru's fiancé, any tips on which guy I should use???  
  
Chibilover2000: that's another thing I'm not going to quite go long with movie, Kenshin character will hopefully keep up with his own character in the anime, though maybe not quite as shy  
  
Rekka's Angel: lol, thanks, I'm really glad nobody else is doing this kind of story for Kenshin. I always try to aim for stories that are unique 


	4. Chapter 3

The Wedding Planner: Kenshin Style

Chapter 3

Love is strange. In your heart, it has no shape or weight. You can't measure its size or its depth. No one has ever actually seen it, but it aches without a doubt- kare kano

* * *

The garden was littered with rose petals that would be promptly picked up in mid morning. The last company vans were carting off their products and the last intoxicated guests were merrily dancing to a noiseless song as they stepped into their chauffeured cars. Misao had left a few hours ago on Kaoru's insistence and now she was alone to breathe in the heady thrill of another success. And for an odd reason, taste the bitterness of something lost.

It had been years since she had felt regret after watching a wedding. It used to be she would sigh over the end of the event and scandalously wish deep inside that the next wedding she would plan would be her own. In time she had learned to train herself, harden herself, so that she would brush the thoughts off as silly and utterly stereotypical. She was a working woman who had no time to fulfill her dreams when there were so many others to be completed first. And that's how it would be. She was that magical hand that pulled imagination and magnificence together into a perfect dream. And for a good price, that perfect dream was given to others.

Her eyes glanced over the deserted scene once more and against her will, a sigh weighed down with disappointment escaped her slightly open mouth. She quickly pressed her lips together before another could escape.

This was stupid. She had promised herself that nothing would _ever_ interfere with her work…especially after that incident four years ago. She winced as her memory began to reluctantly pull up memoirs of her secret shame. She briskly shook herself as if to shake all the unwanted thoughts out of her head. Now was not the time to painfully reminisce about the past, not when she was on the brink of becoming a partner. There was a tiny crack behind her and she whirled around.

"Himura-san! What are you still doing here?" She exclaimed as she steadied her rapidly beating heart.

"I promised I would keep an eye on you." He said innocently. He looked at her with patient lavender eyes and she found that she couldn't stay angry with him. Her moment of peace was broken and her body began to feel the repercussions of a long day. There was still a slight headache, but nothing a good night's sleep couldn't cure.

"I haven't fainted, have I?" She pointed out. "I'm fine, you should go home. I'm use to long hours like this."

"As am I." He said as he brushed his bangs away from his face. There were no signs of weariness on his face, just an unusual alertness at such a scandalously late hour.

"I swear that I'm fine, you can go home now. I'll probably be here a little longer." She said and she turned her back at him, hoping he would take that as a sign that he should leave. But he walked closer and stood right next to her, completely relaxed and unaware of her scathing gaze.

"Do you always push people away like this?" He suddenly asked.

"No." She said curtly in a gruff voice, slightly taken back by his question.

"Do you always push men away like this?" He rephrased.

"Look Kenshin, I don't like being interrogated by someone I just met today. I'm your wedding planner, nothing more, so stop asking questions about me. It's none of your business whether I push anybody away." She said angrily and began to walk away. She quickly called a taxi and spent the entire ride home fuming over questions that she could have easily lied about. But something about Himura kept her from saying anything to retaliate. Ugh, what am I? Some snot nosed brat with a temper tantrum? And he's my client!

She rapped herself smartly in the head before collapsing onto her couch, dreaming in a lavender bliss.

* * *

It was two days later when planning for the Yukishiro wedding commenced. Kaoru had known that Tomoe's parents would spare no costs for the wedding, but they had just called Kaoru to tell her that they were giving _unlimited_ funds for the wedding. Unlimited. The word brought shivers to Kaoru's back. She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes so she could file through all the wedding designs she had stored up from the past. She had already used dozens of ideas and there were still more to be used, but for Tomoe's wedding, she would have to pick her best; her ultimate, absolutely picture perfect wedding. She gave a soft sigh to the empty room, glad that nobody was around to hear it. She had been saving that perfect wedding for herself…

* * *

A week had passed and the sketches for the wedding had been completed. Kaoru looked over the boards one more time, viewing every detail with her eyes to make sure that everything looked perfect. It was her best wedding plan, everybody was saying. Other wedding planners had already stopped by her office to view what would be the most spectacular wedding of the year, and none could find a single flaw in it. Of course it would be flawless, she had sketched and colored the boards herself. But in reality, it was flawless because it was the secret dream that she had been saving for herself. Age was catching up with her and the inevitable pull of gravity was beginning to whisper in her ear that time was slipping from her fingers.

The Yukishiro's had made the meeting place a posh restaurant in downtown Tokyo but when Kaoru got there, there was no sign of the family. Reservations had already been made so the waiter sat her at their table. Ten minutes passed, then twenty. She was considering whether she should call or not when she spotted Himura running into the restaurant with his hair tangled and his tie loose. He spotted her and walked over with a look of relief.

"The Yukishiro's apologize for not being able to meet you today." He said as he sat down. "Tomoe's photo shoot is delaying her and her parents are caught up at a meeting in Milan."

Kaoru pursed her lips. She didn't like the idea of being with him alone, who knew what other questions he might pop to pry into her life. But he was cordial and acted like her tantrum had never happened. He looked over the picture boards long and hard, scrutinizing everything for such a long stretch of time that Kaoru was getting worried that there was something wrong. He had put on a blank face so she couldn't tell if he was pleased or displeased. She impatiently tapped her foot and waited. He finally finished and she reached out to take the boards from him but he kept them on his lap.

"Uh, Himura-san-"

"Kenshin." He cut in, and then gave a smile. "You called me Kenshin the other night."

"Kenshin, I need the boards back." She said, her hand still reaching out.

"I would like to keep these, Kaoru-dono. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you already have a perfect blueprint in your mind. You've been planning this for a long time, haven't you?"

"I'm a wedding planner, of course I already have a perfect blueprint in my head. But I'll need those boards to run them by my boss." Kaoru said nervously. How did Himura know that she had been planning the wedding for a long time? If she spent any more time with him, he would probably discover more things about her, things she didn't want anybody to know. Abruptly, he grabbed her outstretched hand and surprise was quickly overcome by curiosity by the calluses on his hands. He must have practiced some kind of sword art to gain those rough patches of skin. The warmth of his hands shook her from her temporary daze and made her realize that he held her hand as if it was his lifeline in the world. She couldn't help but blush as she tried to yank her hand out of his, but he held tight.

"Kenshin." She said through gritted teeth. She looked around her and saw several faces gaping at the public spectacle. This was a first class restaurant! What was going to happen if some of Tomoe's friends happened to dine here and saw her wedding planner holding hands with her fiancé? There was nothing but direct intensity in his face and she thought she felt fear in her stomach. This time she centered herself like she did in martial arts and pulled with all her might. She held her hand as if she had been burned and quickly sat down, ducking her head in embarrassment. That idiot, what was he thinking?

"You idiot!" She whispered angrily to him as she looked at him through her long bangs. "What do you think you were doing!"

With shaky hands, she tried one last time to grab the boards from him but he kept them out of her reach, this time tucking it under his arms. She grabbed her purse and swiftly got to her feet, not bothering to consider the tab. She felt Himura stand up as well so she speed walked out of the restaurant, and then broke into a humiliating run to find a taxi. She couldn't explain to herself why she was running, but her legs seemed to determined to run from something. She heard Himura yell her name out behind her but she spotted an empty taxi and hopped in. She blurted a lie that her boyfriend was after her and the taxi driver sped off. Kaoru didn't dare look behind her but her eyes caught a flash of red and for a brief second she thought it was the setting sun.

* * *

She tapped her feet and checked her watch to see the minutes tick closer towards the hour. The sun's warmth was making her slightly drowsy and she lazily breathed in the relaxing scent of beautiful flowers. She closed her eyes against the world and rethought every detail of Tomoe's wedding. It would be the highlight of her career, but in her heart, she secretly wished that it would be the highlight of her life instead. It was supposed to be _her_ perfect wedding, one that would cement her precarious dream of a perfect life.

"Stupid." She muttered to herself. Her failed wedding from four years ago should have taught her that there was no such thing as a perfect life. Why did she keep wishing? She glanced at her watch once more. It was exactly 12 pm, and the Yukishiro's were nowhere to be found. She prayed inside that they would make it this time, instead of leaving her with Himura again.

"Kaoru-dono." A voice called out from behind her.

She stifled a groan and plastered a smile on her face as she turned around to greet the very person she had been hoping not to see. He had donned khaki pants and a white dress shirt that made him appear more like a fresh college student than a children's doctor. With her black suit and a severe bun on a beautiful day, Kaoru felt like an old and dull adult.

"Himura-san." Kaoru said politely while maintaining a cautious distance as they walked. She didn't wait for the excuse the Yukishiro's had and instead, dove into the various flowers surrounding them. Himura listened attentively and nodded his head when she made suggestions for the flowers that were to decorate the wedding reception's room. Flowers for the wedding itself had already been naturally planted in the most seemly places, making her job and the flower company's much easier. She was going over the flower arrangements that the company had advised when someone caught her eye. She stopped her sentence and was frozen in her place. A warm hand gently gripped her arm to get her attention.

"Kaoru-dono?" Himura asked cautiously as he looked at the person she was staring at. Kaoru was watching a smiling couple that were affectionately holding hands while sniffing flowers here and there. She took a step back and then turned around to flee, an act that she seemed to be partaking in recently. Himura grabbed her hand to stop her and pulled her back.

"Let me go Kenshin!" She hissed at him while trying to push pressure points on his hand. He grabbed her other hand to stop her frantic attack and they were at a stalemate.

"Is there something wrong?" He asked her firmly, his lavender eyes were steady and she wanted to steal that steadiness for herself.

"Nothing, there's nothing wrong. I just remembered an appointment that I forgot to cancel." She watched in horror as the couple came closer and closer to where they were standing. She pulled Himura and herself behind a potted cherry tree and covered his mouth before he could ask further questions. The couple walked by completely unaware and Kaoru winced as the man groped his partner's rear as they passed. She didn't realize she was breathing hard until a dull ache in her chest warned her of oncoming tears. She pushed Himura away and scooted from him while trying to compose herself. He didn't say anything and only watched Kaoru with guarded interest.

She concentrated all her energy into easing the tight fear in her body. Muscle after muscle relaxed until she had pulled herself back into the composed woman she was before. She then concentrated on her eyes, willing herself to make the tears go away. Will won over body and she soon felt like her normal self again. She gave a low cough to ease away the cries that almost came out and stood up.

"My apologies, Himura-san, I was feeling a bit lightheaded for a second. If you don't mind, I think I'll turn in for today and we can go over the flower arrangements some other time." She said calmly and plastered another fake smile on her face; she seemed to be acquiring a skill for those lately. A resolute look set on Himura's face and she knew that he would probably follow her all the way home to see if she was alright. The kindness in his intentions only made her more anxious to leave alone. "I don't need an escort home, a taxi is fine with me-"

"Kao-kun?" A voice uttered from behind them.

Kaoru turned around to see the couple that she was trying to hide herself from earlier. She pressed her lips together, and then relaxed them into a joyful smile.

"Tenshi-kun, it's been such a long time!" She said. "Nasaka-kun…"

The woman gave a nervous smile at Kaoru and pulled on her partner's arm. Tenshi ignored her and returned Kaoru's smile with a breathtaking one of this own. Kaoru felt her heart break again as she remembered a happiness she could not have anymore.

"I heard about your weddings in magazines, I was very surprised at how far you've gotten Kao-kun!" Tenshi said innocently. Once upon a time, that innocence had been the reason why she was so drawn to him; innocence that had blinded her to Tenshi's real personality. "Perhaps you could-"

"Tenshi-kun," Kaoru cut in before he could finish his request, her stomach clenching with dread at what he was so boldly going to ask of her. "I'm with a cl-"

"Close 'friend' today." Kenshin cut in, his voice emphasizing friend to make it mean something more. "If you could excuse us, Tenshi-san, Nasaka-san." He nodded and led Kaoru away from the couple with slow, sure steps. He took her around the flower place three times, remarking on a few choice flowers, all the while maintaining a close distance and placing his arm easily around her small, trembling shoulders. By the time they had finished making the third round, Tenshi and Nasaka had already left, most likely at the insistence of Nasaka. Kaoru gently pushed herself away from Kenshin. The look on Tenshi's shocked face had been enough to chase away the uncomfortable feeling of being held by someone else's fiancé, but now that uncomfortable feeling was coming back tenfold. The loss of warmth on her side made Kaoru shiver in the perfect temperature of the beautiful day and she silently stood, trying to get her bearings once more. What was it about Kenshin that put her in such discomfort every time she was in his presence? She was so afraid that it was regret- regret of missing out on a good relationship, regret of being alone for so many years…

"Kaoru." He said quietly. She looked at him, it was the first time he hadn't stuck dono next to her name. She had been desperately trying to avoid his eyes since they started their walk around the flowers, but it was too late and she was caught. Kaoru's heart skipped a beat and in a burst of panic, she pushed him away and jumped into a nearby taxi, shoving aside two girls with a hurried apology.

"Drive!" She cried out and buried her face in her hands. This situation was becoming so familiar to her but her thoughts weren't on her ridiculous cowardice. In his eyes, she thought she saw something she didn't have the right to see. A perfect life was laid out inside those gold tinged lavender eyes. A life she had been spending her entire existence dreaming and hoping for.

"Oh Kenshin, what are you doing to me?"

* * *

The driver eased the cab in front of her apartment building. He had a kind smile for her, almost as if he knew exactly what was putting her mind in such a tumble. She pressed a few bills into his hands and stumbled out the car, not bothering to wait for the change. She clumsily tried to open her door but it took her four tries before the key could enter the hole. The phone rang just as she threw her key onto her table, rather than hanging it neatly onto a peg by the door. She stared at the ringing phone, letting it ring once, twice, thrice. She emerged from her thoughts at the fourth ring and picked up the phone.

"Hello." Her voice sounded pathetic and weak even to her own ears. "Hello?" She said again, this time stronger and more determined.

"Kaoru-dono, I apologize for calling at an inconvenient time but please-"

She hung up the phone before he could finish. She hastily unplugged the phone from the wall and rummaged through her purse to shut off her cell phone. Her heart was beating rapidly, as if she had been sprinting up a hill. This man just couldn't leave her alone. He was invading her privacy, her thoughts, and even her dreams. The doorbell rang urgently.

"Go away Kenshin!" She yelled at the door.

"Is this the residence of Kamiya Kaoru?" Said a deep voice. It didn't sound like Kenshin, and he would have added dono by her name. She looked through the peephole and saw a man in a black business standing before her door. She opened the door a crack.

"Yes, I'm Kaoru." She said tentatively.

"I'm your father's attorney. He passed away yesterday and has left his possessions and will to the sole Kamiya left."

Kaoru jerked open the door and ushered the man in, her movements occurring without her mind's knowledge. Her father? Dead? He had been a spry man even in old age. What could have transpired that resulted in his death? She quickly made two cups of coffee and placed one in front of the lawyer, who had grimly sat himself on her couch. She sat next to him and placed her hands on her lap, firmly holding them so they wouldn't shake.

"H-how did he pass away?" She asked.

"He died peacefully in his sleep. The doctors said he just stopped breathing."

Peacefully? What was peaceful about death? Her father had loved life; it was hard to believe that he would just stop breathing in his sleep. The lawyer took out a plain white envelope from inside his expensive coat and placed it on the table, sliding it in front of her.

"Everything you need to know is inside there." He stood up, leaving his coffee untouched. "If you have any questions," He placed his business card on top of the envelope. "Call me here."

He saw himself out, leaving Kaoru sitting on the edge of her couch. She wetted her dry lips and picked up the envelope. She carefully opened it and took out two pieces of paper. The first showed her father's will; he had left everything to her. The second was a short scrawled letter in her father's own hand.

Dear Kaoru,

I've finally reached the end of my line. I have only one regret, that I didn't get to see you married. Forget that stupid Tenshi, I never liked him anyways. Which is why I called your old childhood friend, Seta Soujirou. You made mud pies with him, remember? Anyways, do an old man a favor and get married to him. I'll be keeping my eye on you from wherever I end up in death.

Love,

Your dad

Kaoru gave a sniff and a laugh found its way out of her. It was so typical of him. He made it sound like he was just going on a short trip, when in fact he was going to a place she could never follow him to. The fact that he had engaged her to a person she hadn't seen since she was six made her laugh even harder. Maybe it was the build up of everything that had occurred today, maybe she was overworked. Whatever it was made her laugh for what felt like hours and cry for what felt like days.

* * *

Author's Notes: Ugh, seriously, has it really been over a year since I last updated? Um, I'll try harder to update better next time? Eh, that's not really reassuring is it?

CookyButtButt: oops, I guess I should have been more specific on the relatives part. Kaoru lost her parents early on, so she considers her foster family as her real family. Eh, I'll go back and change that part when I have time. Thanks for pointing that out!

Triste1: thanks! I'm glad my grammer is alright, I try to put out a perfect chapter, but there are always a few mistakes here and there that get me. The movie is pretty good but at the moment, other than a few facts here and there, this story is steering away from the movie's plot.

Kuikkick: aahhhh, I'm really sorry. I have two other writing names besides this one so sometimes I forget I have more stories to write for. That and I just graduated so I've been really busy. Ok, I guess that's not much of an excuse. I hope u enjoyed the chapter! I tried not to leave a really bad cliffhanger…

QAB: thank you! I wasn't getting a lot of reviews for this story so I was a bit worried. But everybody's positive reviews really made me optimistic for this story!

Nigihayami haruko: I don't think I'll be having Enishi in this story, as u can already tell, I picked who Kaoru's fiancé would be. But maybe I can use him for future evilness later on….


	5. Chapter 4

The Wedding Planner: Kenshin Style

Chapter 4

Do you know? The speed at which cherry blossoms fall? At what speed must I live… to be able to see you again?- Shinkai Makoto

* * *

A knock broke apart her dismal thoughts. A polite pause followed by a softer tap pulled her from her couch. The heavy weight of her life made time slow down and the distance to the door seemed to stretch farther than she could see. Finally, her fingers brushed the doorknob but she couldn't find the will to open her door and let the world outside slip within.

"Kamiya-san." A gentle voice spoke through the door. "Are you alright?"

It couldn't be…

Her stomach twisted in agony and she swung open the door, only to see a man with a carefully blank face standing before her. His eyes were that transparent sky blue that would never reflect anything back. Such lifeless eyes…

"You are?" She said, more rudely than she meant. She sighed and tried to pull herself together. "I'm sorry, what business do you have?"

He gave a gentle smile that untightened knots she didn't know she had in her shoulders. Where had she seen that smile before? This time, she looked more closely at his face, scanning for any traces of familiarity. A delicate face that looked like it would break under a light touch, hair softer than a girl's, and a mouth that had trained itself to maintain a smile rather than naturally grow into one. A memory screeched into her head faster than she thought.

"Sou-kun?" She gasped. He had grown from the fragile child she had always protected into…well, a man. She had many fading memories of hiding his shivering body from his explosive relatives who would come searching next door at her father's dojo. Her father always lied to them with a straight face and a boken in his hand, a testament to his silent warning of their trespasses on his property. Soujirou and Kaoru had gotten along well, more from the fact that both children felt unwanted. Soujirou, with his vile guardians, and Kaoru, with her natural parents leaving her alone in the world. The Seta family moved when she was in her 8th year and she never saw Soujirou again. His serene smile glowing amongst the bruises on his face was the clearest memory she had of him. And it was the same smile falling upon her once again. She felt her heart wrench at how unchanged his face looked, even though he appeared healthy and well.

"It has been a long time." He said slowly, looking at her carefully as if to judge his next move by her reaction.

"I thought of you," she said slowly as well, her mind moving like it was treading through thick mud. "If-if you were still alive."

"As you can see, I survived. Which cannot be said for my dearly departed relatives." He chuckled lightly as he stepped over the threshold. Like a shadow, he passed by her and surveyed her spotless living room. "They died five years ago in a fire they started, leaving everything to me." He stepped into her kitchen next and chuckled again at how bare it was. "Your father contacted me around the same time and offered a proposal-quite literally, in fact."

Kaoru gave a groan and flopped onto the couch, scattering her father's papers all over the floor. Soujirou walked over and picked them up, neatly stacking them on her coffee table.

"He asked if I was available and not adverse to daily sampling your cooking- that I would take you as my wife." He looked at her then, so calmly, so serenely, he could have been asking her the weather with that same look.

And something in her snapped.

The same laughter as before began to bubble up, but this time it didn't end in tears. It went on and on and Soujirou could only look on in a confusion that filled his face for a brief second before schooling itself into a blank look again. Her idiot of a father had died, proposing marriage to a childhood friend in the futile (and misplaced) attempt to continue caring for her. Life had to have something in for her. Despite a life laboring wish for true love, she had only received a cheating fiancé, a job that reminded her at every wedding how single she was, and now a marriage proposal from a friend who treated it like grocery shopping. Today, he would pick up some nice carrots, perhaps a box of ice cream, and oh, maybe a bride? She laughed until she felt her stomach would tear into two and when she was done she laid limp on the couch, looking up at her white ceiling. The entire time, Soujirou looked at her with infinite patience.

"Soujirou, I think you and I both know how well meaning my father tries to be. And I think you know much better than I that you'd die of my cooking before we even exchange the rings." She sat up and took her father's letter into her hands. She smiled at him as she tore the letter in half. "I don't need a marriage to know my father loves me. And you don't need one as an obligation to my father."

Something flashed across his eyes and she froze in her tearing action. Something dark seemed to be lurking underneath the surface of his blue eyes. It didn't feel like anger, and yet it did- a terrible, seething rage. She rose from her seat and walked to him, the torn pieces of the letter falling to the floor from her lap.

"What happened to you?" She asked him. "What happened with your family?" She reached up to touch his cheeks and he stopped her with a lightning fast movement that her eyes barely detected. Indeed, what did happen?

"Storytime will have to wait till later." He said casually with her wrists in his hands. "I have a prior engagement that I must attend to." He turned to walk out the door but he stopped right before the doorway. "But Kamiya-san, take my proposal as seriously as if I had been engaged to you for years." Like a phantom, he disappeared and the tension in the room left with him. A wind from the open door blew into the room, flinging the paper all about. Kaoru was crouching down to pick them up when a figure at the corner of her eye made her jump in surprise. Kenshin stood exactly where Soujirou had been before he left. Sunlight from the door streamed in, creating a breathtaking halo of fire around his figure. His eyebrows were furrowed in a look of concern and a touch of frustration. Did he hear the conversation with Soujirou? She felt all the blood in her body trembling at the sight of him and she instantly knew that this baffling feeling was something that she could not continue to run from. He had confronted her at her most vulnerable place, her home, and any curt words to say could not be summoned up. The first person to say something would determine the course of their relationship…

"Himura- san, if you had needed me, my office would have been a more suitable choice." She said. So there, with this, she would seal away all confusing feelings connected to Kenshin into a little box that would be thrown down into the deepest part of her mental ocean. For the sake of her career and her own mental sanity, she would be the best wedding planner for this man and his wonderful, beautiful, _perfect_ fiancé. Perhaps hanging a portrait of the ultimate ideal woman named Tomoe would sink that little box of feelings deeper and faster. What normal person in their right mind would ever think that anybody with someone as flawless as Tomoe to love them, would spare a thought for someone else? Her confusing feelings could only be a product of jealousy. How far had she fallen to even be jealous of a man who had god's gift to men as a lover? It would all stop now.

"I didn't come about matters on the wedding." He said.

Her little black box began to float up, despite the weighty feelings locked inside. In disgust with herself, Kaoru took a deep breath and forced her work mode on.

"If you aren't here to discuss the wedding, then we have nothing to discuss." She said with a smile that gave off 100 watts of light. "Really, Himura-san, it's quite indecent that you're here at this hour alone. Shouldn't you be with Tomoe-san?"

"Kenshin." He said firmly. "You call my fiancé by her name, why not mine as well? To be fair, of course." He grinned at her and she felt her work face slipping. "But no, I'm allowed to be where I want to be, and Tomoe trusts me."

Ahhh, there was that word from his lips again-trust. Jealousy surged forth and she squashed it down a second time. To be trusted was a greater compliment than to be loved, almost.

"Why are you here Kenshin." She said tiredly. The weight of the day was pressing on her shoulders again and she felt time slow once more. He brushed his long bangs away from his eyes in a motion cut straight from a fictional movie, lingering and graceful. "Why are you always here, and always there, and always at the times when I don't want you to be? Why are you always-"

_So bright…_

"I'm not quite sure myself." He said, his face clouding with recollection. "But… you remind me of someone from my past long ago. For that reason, I can't seem leave you alone."

He said past like it was a completely separate chapter in his life. A period of time best left forgotten, if only for the sake of moving on with life. If she reminded him of someone then, why seek her out so often? Why fill himself of a presence that clearly brought regret? She felt tears prick at her eyes. The thought of being a regretted memory was like being thrown into a tub of ice cold water. She pulled away from her feelings of jealousy and hesitance to face Kenshin eye for eye.

"I am not that person from your history, no matter how much you think or want me to be." She said angrily. "Don't mix up your past with the people around you, or you'll end up hurting someone important to you. Now if you'll excuse me, but you should leave." She pointed at the door with a trembling finger. _Be calm, be cool, be wise._

He tipped his head toward the ground so she couldn't see his eyes. Dusk had already fallen and the light around him had begun to fade. Suddenly, he looked up and amber sparked out of his eyes. Lavender had been eaten up by molten gold that simply _burned_. There was visible pain in his eyes and Kaoru instantly regretted what she had said.

"Kenshin-" She started.

"You're right." He mumbled to her. "You're right." He took a step backwards and disappeared much like Soujirou did, and abruptly, she was alone once more.

Why did men keep running in and out of her life?

* * *

This time, they HAD to come. Her fingers drummed nervously across her precious notebook of ideas. Today was the day she was going to show the Yukishiros and Kenshin the location of the ceremony. It wasn't enough that she was determined to carry through with her dream wedding, but that Kenshin and Tomoe were just the couple to fit the happily ever after ending. It was she who had dreamed of a wedding that would connect the past with the future; a partnership as old as time and would last through any obstacle or change. She flipped through her notebook of rough sketches and scribbles of ideas and clapped it shut in irritation at herself. She was the one who spun dreams and sold them, this would be no different. This perfect wedding would give her the partnership and perhaps then, life would begin to look up.

She had planned the wedding to take place at a discreet but beautiful temple surrounded by pure beauty and a romantic myth about an assassin and a girl. The story had immediately called out to her when she was flipping through a book of nearby temples in high school. In the Meiji era, an assassin had fallen in love with a beautiful girl and renouncing his ways, the couple fled to the mountains to live in peace. However, the girl had been plotting revenge for the death of her lover in the assassin's hand. As time passed, she grew to love him and tragically died saving the assassin's life. The assassin, in grief, built the temple to carry on his creed of protecting life. The story had brought instant tears to her face and it became a part of her collection of dreams.

The temple itself was not only perched on a stunning view of Tokyo on one side and the valley on another but had rows and groves and paths of just sakura trees that had been blooming for over a hundred years. Not even war and pollution had tainted the sacred trees from blooming regularly and stunningly every spring. The priest had informed her that this year would bring the most magnificent bloom ever in the history of the temple. How he knew, Kaoru couldn't figure out, but she knew that the wedding had to take place at that temple. The ceremony would take place just as the sun slipped down the horizon, leaving traces of red and pink in the sky. A lane of baby sakura trees with tiny glittering lamps hanging all over the branches would lead to a gleaming bridge that sat on a slow flowing stream. White plum blossoms would hang on the bridge's handrails and from there, the lane of glittering trees would continue to an open pavilion looking down on the temple sitting in a valley of sakura. It would be a full moon that night, illuminating everything in a quiet light. Tomoe and Kenshin's love was much like moonlight, at least in Kaoru's eyes. It was soft and yielding to the flow of life, despite all the terrible things that constantly happens. Forever and on, that moonlight would carry on its unceasing light.

A limo pulled up and Kaoru let a shudder of relief pass through her as she sat up and straightened her skirt. Thankfully, the Yukishiros and Kenshin stepped out. The parents were in a matching ensemble of Burberry, Tomoe in a stunning white suit, and Kenshin in a pair of jeans and polo. He should have looked out of place in the elegance of the Yukishiros, but he, too, carried with him an old world grace. Kaoru never felt more out of place in her plain black suit with her long hair in a ponytail. She gave them a full tour of the grounds, including where parking would be, the caterer's tents, the reception tent, whatnot. Despite it all, Kaoru felt the old warm sensation of pleasure as the Yukishiros ooed and aahed the lane of baby sakuras. At the pavilion, the family fell silent. Tomoe turned around with her eyes sparkling with tears.

"Kaoru, it's perfect." She said with a beam. "This is the wedding that I've always dreamed of."

Tomoe's sincere tears made Kaoru feel terrible at all the jealousy she felt before. Tomoe worked hard, despite her parent's fortune, she was well mannered, kind, beautiful, and had found her true love. She deserved the wedding far more than Kaoru did with her ugly thoughts of envy. She had nobody significant in her life, there was nothing important to her except her work. Rather than wasting her life away dreaming about something impossible, it would be far better if she could make other people happy.

It was final.

For Tomoe, she would stop at nothing to make this the perfect wedding.

* * *

Ah, soooo, it's been awhile? this short chapter is something i'm writing in between writer's block, so forgive me if some things aren't quite right. also its shorter than i thought it would be. but i got a good idea of what i want from the next chapter so hopefully it should come out soon? input? i miss reviews...


	6. Chapter 5

The Wedding Planner: Kenshin Style

Chapter 5

~I want to be strong so I won't need you to save me -Myojin Yahiko

* * *

The scent of old Kyoto filled her and Kaoru felt excitement surge throughout her body. Antique buildings with history in every crack of stone, every fade of color surrounded her and she felt like she was home. Her father had been a traditional Japanese in every point, from the zen garden to the tea ceremonies. They had gone to Kyoto once and Kaoru had loved every second of it. Her eyes filled with gloom as she thought of how her father would have loved to accompany her here again and walk the narrow streets and sample the dozens of neighborhood temples. Would… Kaoru blinked back tears and concentrated on the map in her hands. If she worked hard enough, maybe the toughest period of someone passing away would pass her as well. And when she would emerge from all this as a partner of Oniwabanshu, then maybe she could face that unwanted sorrow again. But for now, only work would do.

The white plum blossoms that so reminded her of Tomoe's steady personality were blooming only in far away Kyoto. It could have been a simple phone call away but Kaoru had decided to personally oversee and finalize every aspect of the wedding. The blossoms were a crucial decoration for the bridge and only the best in Kyoto would do, which meant Kaoru would inspect every petal and leaf. Yet, Kaoru stole a look at her side, why _he_ had to come still baffled her. Kenshin caught her look and gave a sunny smile that sent her head spinning. It was like the other day had never happened and he was back to that smiling, friendly doctor. That smile would be the death of her one day.

After announcing that she would be making a trip to Kyoto to pick up decorations for the wedding, Tomoe not only allowed her to take her private jet but insisted Kaoru take Kenshin's expertise of the area's layout. Kaoru turned the map this way and that, refusing to utter anything other than a polite yes or no to him. The flower shop was supposed to be… the map disappeared from her hands and she looked at Kenshin with irritation.

"I know where I'm going." She said as she tried to snatch the map but he took a quick step back. She snatched again, this time using more of her reflexes but still he moved out of her reach. What was wrong with her? All those backbreaking years of martial arts training should have at least helped her grab a simple map. Her sandaled foot stubbed itself on the ground and she felt herself pitch forward. In an almost predatory grace, Kenshin was there holding her up. A brief second of silence passed before she flung herself away from him, her stomach vibrating with the sensation of his warm arms. She tried to hide her blushing red face by crouching down and inspecting her poor toe. A hand came into her view and she slapped it away.

"I'm fine." She said, exasperated at herself more than ever.

"Did you just slap me?" Kenshin asked in disbelief.

Kaoru looked up at his shocked face and gave a rebellious grin at the sight of it. Her smile died down as she saw his face almost contort with something that looked fearfully close to longing. She turned her head away and stood up, brushing invisible wrinkles from her skirt.

"Um, let's go." She said, trying to keep the embarrassment from her voice. What was that look? Regret again? Or was it really longing? Who was she to him? A terrible hope welled itself up in her but Kaoru had trained herself well before this trip. She summoned an image of Tomoe's perfect face and that hope died faster than she wanted it to. With his guard down, Kaoru whipped the map from his hands and immediately began to walk. Throughout the entire day, he said little as she took charge. After several hours, Kaoru's tense shoulders relaxed and she became completely absorbed in her work. There were visits to five well known flower shops but each had yielded average crops in Kaoru's eyes. She sighed as she crossed the last flower shop off on her list. She wasn't even sure what she was exactly looking for but it wasn't in any of the shops. The flowers lacked something essential to her, despite their almost engineered beauty. These flowers were solely for Tomoe and they would decorate the bridge that the couple would cross. The bridge was their leap of faith together and Kaoru felt that it was Tomoe's strength that would carry them across. With a second sigh, Kaoru snapped her notebook shut and looked at anything but flowers. For now she would rest at the ryokan Tomoe had booked for the two of them and perhaps tomorrow would bring answers. She turned to look at Kenshin, who was patiently waiting behind her.

"I'm sorry for dragging you around all day with me, and with nothing to show for it." She said as he flagged down a taxi for them.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be of any aid, but it would have helped if you told me what I should be looking for." He said.

"I'm looking for Tomoe." She said absentmindedly as she stared at the passing background. "Ah," Kaoru looked down and blushed. "I meant, I'm looking for the right flower that represents Tomoe."

He gave her a quizzical look. "Weren't you set on plum blossoms for her?"

"Yes, but those blossoms at the shops weren't right though." Kaoru said, waving her hands in a gesture of rejection. "They seemed too… Oh, I don't know. They were too perfect and Tomoe is more than that."

Kenshin gave her his look again, the one where she felt like she was being evaluated. The taxi stopped and they paid and stepped out under the dusky sky. The two simply stood, the silence hanging under the pressing curtain of stars. Kaoru looked at him mesmerized as his eyes began to take on that amber glow again.

"I've realized the secret to your success." He said suddenly, his voice filling the air with his usual nuances of friendliness. His eyes were lavender again but the bumbling doctor wasn't there, only the firmness that she had seen in his amber tinted gaze. "You give people their perfect weddings because you see in them everything they are."

"Ahaha," Kaoru laughed weakly. What was he talking about? "I give them perfect weddings because I'm good at what I do, it's who I am."

"No," He shook his head at her. "Who you are is someone who can see past a person and straight into their heart. Kaoru, you are more than just your job, don't you realize that? Your ability to see people is what gives them that happiness."

Kaoru closed her eyes and breathed deep. "If I truly had that ability, I would be happy by now. _If_ I could see people." She opened her eyes and looked at him with sadness that she couldn't keep back anymore. Why did he keep giving her hope and ideas that she wasn't just a spinster who could only whither away as others around her could be happy. She had accepted long ago that she was who she was. A workaholic, a terrible cook, a coward. _Alone_. "Kenshin, stop looking for things that aren't there and just let me do my job."

He grabbed her arm and stopped her from walking into the ryokan. She gave him her best glare but he didn't even twitch.

"You're mistaken Kaoru, I know you aren't the person from my past. I've realized that you two are very different from each other. But-"

"Then why won't you leave me alone?" She asked him angrily. She had tried hard enough to keep the distance between them but it would never work if he was the one who kept bringing the distance closer. "Why don't you treat me normally? Why? I've seen how you interact with other people, why treat me different? Why am I the only one?"

He ran his fingers through his hair, a motion that she had come to associate with nervousness. He paced back and forth in front of her, words ready to explode from his lips. He stopped and looked at her with such conflict in his eyes.

"_I don't know_. You're different to me, somehow. Somehow-"

No more trying, no more pretending. She thought she had gotten her emotions all under control but only _he_ could set everything apart again. She should have been better than this, she was a professional for god's sake. Why did she have to love-

_It couldn't be…_

Was it love?

The thought hit her like a ton of bricks on her head and she felt panic take over. _Oh nonono._ It was like someone had knocked the breath out of her. Of all the things she had to feel, love was something she thought she had stamped out long ago.

"Dear customers! Please, please come in!" A lilting voice called out. The two swiftly turned to see the ryokan owner urging them inside. Kaoru thought she could melt from relief at the sight of the woman. Everything passed like a blur to her as she was escorted to her room and he was escorted to his right next door. She dropped the bag onto the floor and sped outside for a walk without even surveying her room's surroundings. The air felt suffocating to her and she just needed to go somewhere, anywhere but near him. Her feet took her onto a sparse path behind the ryokan. Tree branches grabbed her here and there but still she pressed on, her panic licking at her heels to run further. Finally the path broke out to a small moonlit meadow. Exhaustion covered her in a thick blanket and she sat down amongst the fallen flowers that littered the area. She concentrated on her breathing until it was even and soft and she tiredly laid herself down to look at the sky.

Cardinal rule number one in wedding planning: don't ever fall in love with people involved in the wedding, or basically the groom.

Sell love, but don't ever feel it.

She had lied to Aoshi when she said she hadn't read the manual. She had. Twice. And that rule burned itself into her eyes. She groaned and covered them with her hands. How could she have broken the most important rule and how could she have not even noticed it until now? That red haired idiot had had her heart when he laughed at her as she thanked him for her shoe. His stupid overwhelming concern for her health, his goofy smile that made him seem ten years younger than he really is, his absorbing interest in everything around him, and his beautiful, gorgeous, spectacular lavender eyes that worked better than any drug relaxant in the world. It was those things, yet so many more that she didn't know or understood. The elegance of his hand as it brushed those infuriating bangs away from his eyes. The way he put the people around him at ease with his good natured air. It was everything.

She clenched her hands against her head, bopping herself a few times for good measure. It was love at first sight. And being the fool that she was, she hadn't seen it coming or even suspected it. She just did what she always did; running around, doing 20 things at once, and realizing it all at the end, when it's too late. Much too late...

It was like her life ran in neverending cycles of the same structure and same results. With Tenshi, it had all been there in the beginning too. As she was planning their wedding and life together, she had seen Nasaka's eyes glimmer in a strange way whenever they fell on her fiance. Her stomach had twisted strangely then and suddenly, she was running away. She made excuses, wrapped herself with her planning, and turned her head away when she saw the two of them together, alone. The engagement party, when she ran out to look for him for the toast and glowing under the moonlight, she saw their kiss. Tenshi's heart laid itself bare before Nasaka, the friend Kaoru had called an angel, and all the helpless feelings from before fell away. There had been so many terrifying hints and she had ran away from them all, until the very end, when all the facts sank into her realization. The protective bubble she had created around herself shattered and there was nothing to do but pick up the pieces and start over.

But this time, she wouldn't be too late. She had hated the Nasaka in her story and she would hate herself for becoming the Nasaka in Kenshin's story as well. For Tomoe, she would stop everything before her eyes, too, would begin to glimmer in that strange way. And for Kenshin, who would probably realize it soon enough, she would hide everything. And to hell with her protective bubble.

The wind picked up and she shivered in her spot but then a scent began to surround her. She quickly sat up and looked around her, only to start laughing. The answer to her troubles was all around her. Tomoe's flowers, the elusive plum blossom was everywhere in the trees surrounding the meadow, growing beautifully and naturally with its scent filling the air. Kaoru closed her eyes and breathed in the serene scent. This was what she had been looking for, this was Tomoe. The blossom was more than just beauty, it had the power to calm a person and heal their wounds. Whatever desolate memories or regretful thoughts lurked in a person's mind, it would all be washed away with this flower. If Kenshin was the night, Tomoe was the soft moon that gave light to see through it. The red haired idiot could bumble about as much as he wanted, but Kaoru knew there was something dark behind that cheerful smile. It was a past that she wanted to soothe away with her own hands, but it wasn't her place. Tomoe would do it, she _could_ do it, and that was more than what Kaoru could say for herself. Tomoe _deserved _this wedding. Not because she was rich, or she had a wonderful fiancé, or because she was beautiful. This perfect wedding had to go to Tomoe because… because she would probably treasure it more than Kaoru ever could inside her head.

There was a step behind her and Kaoru whirled around to see Kenshin standing solemnly behind her but her heart didn't jump. She now knew what these furious emotions were in her and the knowledge gave her a sense of power. She would stop running away because she knew deep down that running would never solve her problems. Kaoru looked up at his golden eyes and sighed inside her heart. She could never love this man because it would mean ruin for the both of them. It was the possibility of the ruin of his happiness that scared her most, never mind her own. The best thing to do would be to keep quiet and finish the job. After this wedding, she would take a long break away from love and planning and marriage, and most especially from Kenshin.

"I'm sorry…for my outburst earlier. I'm just acting like a little kid." She said with a light chuckle. Oh how her heart wept. "I just don't like personal contact with the clients. It gets in the way of my work, which is why I like to keep things professional."

"I was telling the truth and lying when I said you didn't remind me of her." He said as he sat down ignoring her apology. His eyes were looking at something intangible in the dark. "You and her were much the same- at first glance one can only think of a delicate doll but underneath is all this strength. Yet you- somehow, you, with your almost senseless desire to make others happy before yourself." He was combing his fingers through his bangs again and Kaoru's own hand itched to hold them and make them stop. "While you plan away to make everybody around you happy, you often get this look in your eyes," His hands stopped their movement and he turned to look at Kaoru, reaching out to her and almost brushing her eyelashes. "Like you want that happiness too but you'd rather suffer before ever compromising their happiness for yours." His hands dropped lifelessly. "You are the most foolish yet completely unselfish person I've ever met, and I have met many, many people in my lifetime, Kaoru-dono."

Kaoru smiled at him, a genuine one that was tired but still earnest and he looked at her in puzzlement. He painfully reminded her of Tenshi, earnestly giving himself... Perhaps in the next life, god would give her the chance to be with this man.

"Himura-san, I'm happy to be a unique person in your life but that is all I can ever be to you."

_I love you but that's all that can be said and done._

"As your wedding planner, I have promised not to let anything get in the way and when I give my word, I will never break it."

_I want you to be happy and I won't let anything take that away._

"You are the client and I am the planner. Plain and simple."

_You're engaged to Tomoe and I'm married to my work._

"Anything more and it will concede the plans of the wedding."

_Anything more and we'll both lose everything_.

"All I ask for is a professional relationship that won't cross any personal boundaries."

_So please, let me live how I always have…_

She stood up and reached to pluck a plum blossom from a tree. She handed it to Kenshin as a reminder of his soon to be bride and started to walk back to the ryokan. There were no sounds of his footsteps behind her the entire way back and she felt something die and grow inside her at the same time.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

She shoved her key into the lock and pushed the door open. Home at last after the most emotional roller coaster she had been on. The rest of the trip was spent in utter politeness as Kaoru negotiated with the ryokan owners who also owned the grove of plum blossoms. A fresh shipment would arrive the day before the wedding to be artfully arranged by Fumiko's Flowers. With that out of the way, she could concentrate on the reception. She was picking up her mail on the floor when she sensed the presence of someone in the living room. She threw the lights on and assumed a guard stance only to see Soujirou sitting on the couch with his trademark smile on his face.

"How did you get in?" She asked coolly. She dropped her bags in the hallway and sat next to him with a sigh. She didn't even have enough energy to be surprised. Instead, she leaned her head back and closed her eyes. Honestly, she didn't even care of the means Soujirou used to break in. There was too much on her mind to wonder why this grown up Soujirou had so many more secrets behind that empty smile.

"I told your landlord I was your fiancé and didn't have the keys to the place." He said.

_Oh…_

"Oh," she said aloud. She would have to talk to her landlord sometime, if she ever had time. Tomorrow she had to meet with the caterers to discuss the traditional Japanese banquet that would serve as the reception dinner. Then later in the afternoon she would meet with Tomoe to pick her wedding dress. Why the supermodel Tomoe didn't have any of her highly fashionable supermodel friends help her with that task was a bafflement to Kaoru. Right after getting off the plane, Tomoe had called and asked in her soft voice if Kaoru could aid her in picking out her wedding dress. Most of Kaoru's high end clients already had dresses personally made for them or already picked out with a group of friends. She could feel the muscles in her face tense at the thought of picking the wedding dress for the perfect woman who had the perfect man and the perfect wedding. And Kaoru couldn't even muster jealousy. She said yes with a polite smile, and with a dip of her head to Kenshin as farewell, she stepped into the taxi and drove away.

Tomorrow, she would stop at her office to pick up some papers, stop by to say hi to Misao, a quick update for Aoshi, then-

"You really haven't changed." Soujirou's voice snuck into her ear. She whipped her head around and would have hit her head against his if he hadn't moved away so fast. She nervously tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and moved away from his too close face. Perhaps she would stop by her office today. She stood and grabbed her coat.

"Time changes everyone." She said quietly as she gathered her things. Kaoru looked at Soujirou who was still sitting down. She reached over to tousle his hair and he gave her a less than friendly look. "You, however, have changed too much. But don't think I won't figure out what your new smiles mean." She walked to the door and opened it to step out but before closing it, she poked her head out and gave him a smile. "Lock the door when you leave."

At the soft click of the door shutting, Soujirou stood in a trembling rage. He knew he shouldn't have come back but something had drawn him to her, to his past. And he hated it. He felt weak as she fluttered here and there in her superfluous job, forgetting about him. Then one smile would wipe everything away. No, he couldn't go off track. Not when he had, by pure luck, ran into his target.

For the future, he would sacrifice everything. Even if she got swept up in it.

* * *

*hmm, so I totally didn't expect the last part of this chapter either. A plot twist just came to me as I was writing and I felt it was appropriate to end it there and start a new chapter. I think soon I will start taking this into a different direction than the wedding planner but still try to keep the basic elements of the original movie. I will warn you guys, it might get a bit darker? Well, we'll see. My muse hits me in different ways. Please leave a review with your thoughts and thanks for reading!

Kuikkick: that's so funny, I just read your review before finishing up this chapter. Hope you like it. i'm glad i'm maturing, at least at means i'm getting somewhere!

Hiwiwy: ahaha chapter 6 in 2009...oops?

Skenshingumi: yes I was going to bring soujirou as a minor character but i've been playing with a few ideas here and there on whether to make him a main character or not. he's one of my favorite side characters!

Limegrass: well, the story is going to go a different direction soon but I hope to not betray my title too much. It hasn't been decided how sano and megumi will play into this yet.

Abuhi-chan: really? There are no other kenkaoru fanfic on this?


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